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HELP PLS I accidentally turned my external hard drive into windows 10 installation disk

Anonymous
2018-11-13T05:40:53+00:00

I very stupidly formatted a windows installation disk onto my Seagate 1TB external hard drive. I thought I was just innnocently saving a file It now reads as ESB-USB 31GB max space and not the nearly 1TB max space I had on there before this incident for which most of that was data which has now vanished and apparently been replaced by just this installation drive and when I click on the drive now it just shows the reinstall disk details and none of my previous files.

Quite simply: is the data I lost recoverable? It worries me a lot the max space is now 31GB and not the 1TB previously so does that mean I lost all but 31GB? if it is recoverable? am hoping to speak with someone who perhaps had this issue and if they were able to get their lost data back. What did you use? please don't lecture me on the importance of backing up files I GET THAT I am more frantic about getting the files back right now to care about what I should had done.

Is there a good free/not free program that can recover files in instances like this? or is it a case of sending it to a data recovery shop which could put me a few hundred out of pocket :( thanks.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-11-15T05:28:59+00:00

    Best way to ensure that you get your data back is to contact a data recovery lab. However like I said, some of your files have been overwritten while installing Windows, so some parts are unrecoverable.

    Hope this helps.

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-11-13T08:05:11+00:00

    Ok thanks for that. I also meant to ask earlier: can I just unplug the affected drive so it can't affected in anyway from this point? I just wanted to work on at least doing what I originally intented to do (reinstsall windows) without worrying about the external hard drive issue for now.

    What I do with my computer regardless of the external hard drive issue isn't going to affect the problem as long as its unplugged yes?

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-11-13T07:52:36+00:00

    yeh thx for the reply. I just don't know what to do as I tried to download 'Recuva' file you mentioned but all it seemed to do after I downloaded it was when installing it just stayed on the '0% installing' for ages and didn't budge. So for some totally bizzare reason I can't use that. So fricken typical. I am paranoid of actually doing anythhng with the drive right now for fear or losing anything even moreso making it more unrecoverable.

    Don't suppose anyone who has been through this probem themselves has any advice do they on how to retain the lost data? I am tempted to let a professional data recovery lab deal with it even if I will pay out the nose.

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  4. DaveM121 891.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2018-11-13T07:49:40+00:00

    Hi CurtisW2

    Below are two applications that may be able to recover the original 1TB partition and hopefully most of your data from what is now unallocated space. There is no guarantees, but those would be the best option for success . .

    EaseUS - Free version

    https://www.easeus.com/partition-recovery/index...

    Find and Mount:- Free version

    http://findandmount.com/

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-11-13T05:48:18+00:00

    Hello, I am sorry to hear that you have accidentally formatted your disk. Unfortunately, since your disk has overwritten over some parts of your drive, it is hard to say that your data is recoverable. However, you may try to do so. I can not guarantee that you will get your files back, but you may as well try and get at least some of the files back. Try using a third party software called Recuva File recovery. You can do a quick google search and find the download.

    Hope this helps, and let me know if you have further questions!

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